Ornate Bichir

[Javentule]

Hi ho!

I just got an ornate bichir from the store where I work because I positively fell in love with the look, movement, and personality of the guy (or gal - still very little and I have no reference to tell genders).
Right now he's in my 29 gallon with my opaline gourami, red tailed shark, fat platy and two babies, and a school of glolite tetra. So far they're all getting along (the bichir is only about four inches long or so). I think I MIGHT have lost one of the baby platies, but that doesn't make me too sad in either case since they were accidental.
Anyway - Do you think the bichir could live long term with at least the shark and the gourami and should I get a new tank for the tetra and platies? Or should I just get the bichir his own tank?
Also, I've been feeding him blood worms (I get them in the flat pack and then chip of three chunks to distribute in left, middle, and right sides of the tank) but I never actually see him eat them and I hope the other fish don't snark it all before he can get to it (though he seems to have good weight so far..)

I guess I just want your general bichir knowledge, too I think he's the bee'sknees and I want to do this right.

-J

 

[Javentule]

Here's a picture to show you how SMALL he is (in comparison to the red tail shark and one of the glolite tetra). Also a little bit of my tank - it's got a big fake (resin?) ornament with a "cave" feature, four silk plants, and two live (the java fern is sproutin' babies like crazy though - I should pinch 'em and start new).

Anyways:

 

[beblondie]

It should reach over 20'' but this will take a few years.They are predatory but not overly agressive,many ornates are mostly nocturnal if yours is active uring the day be happy.They can be sexed usually at 7'' approx. the male have a thicker more muscular anal fin than the females,females tend to be bigger than males.
Live foods : guppies , rosey red minnows, ghost shrimp, earthworms,mealworms
feed only freshly shed ,Same applies to superworms.
frozen: bloodworms, mysis shrimp,brine shrimp ,krill, squid and frozen silversides
some will take pellets,lean meaty foods such as beefheart are good too
but you need to balance their diet for nutrition so vary the diet, not just one
thing.How much to feed them ? Feed them until their belly bows slightly.
and skipping a meal will not hurt them remember in the wild food is not
always available.A nice round bichir is a happy bichir -Anne

 

[ghostknife]

When the bichir gets older it will eat your tetras and platies. I wouldn't recommend keeping bichers with red tailed sharks and ruby sharks because the sharks eat the mucus of the bichirs bodies which makes them vunerable for infection. I used to have an albino ruby shark with my polypterus but it started doing this so I had to remove him.

 

[Javentule]

I read that keeping bichirs with labeos (like black sharks) wasn't recommended, but since the red tailed shark is Epalzeorhynchos bicolor, with no labeo in the name, I figured it'd be okay? They do have the same mouth physiology though, which I guess is the important part when considering their suitability with the bichir.

I haven't noticed any worrisome interactino between the two yet - no scale grazing or anything - and the bichir really like hanging out in the branch ornament during the day. I am planning on getting a bigger tank for the ornate (as soon as I can figure out WHERE to put it). Would you recommended other bichirs as tankmates? We've got some "dinosaur eels" aka senegalus which they say get 12 inches (but so did the ornate's tag ) that I was thinking of buddying up with the ornate once I get the larger thank. Who else have you had success keeping ornates with?

 

[CFC]

Ornates are generally ok with any fish they cant eat (fish over 4") though grazing fish like plecs and algea eating cyprinids (sharks etc) are not suitable tankmates.

 

[ghostknife]

I read that keeping bichirs with labeos (like black sharks) wasn't recommended, but since the red tailed shark is Epalzeorhynchos bicolor, with no labeo in the name, I figured it'd be okay? They do have the same mouth physiology though, which I guess is the important part when considering their suitability with the bichir.

The red-tailed used to be classed as Labeo bicolor and is sometimes still labelled under that name. In the Baensch aquarium atlas 1 labeo bicolor is listed as a synonym of Epalzeorhynchos bicolor.

 

[Javentule]

D'oh! Looks like it's time for a game of "musical tanks" in that case.

 

[Black_Ghost_Guy]

Yes, at full size, there's a good chance that it will eat all of the fish in your tank (they can get to around 2' in length).

 

[Dorkhedeos]

get a bigger tank

 

[Black_Ghost_Guy]

get a bigger tank

Yes, I would say nothing short of a 120 gallon wide will be in order to house a fully grown ornate (4' L X 2' W).